Country Time Stands Up to “Arcane Laws” Against Kids Lemonade Stands

Popular lemonade brand under Kraft Heinz, Country Time, is “taking a stand for lemonade stands” and pledging to help kids cover the costs of city permits when young kids end up getting their lemonade stands shut down and fined.

Kids across the country are getting busted for operating lemonade stands without a permit. We’re taking the lead to #SaveLemonadeStands by paying for kids’ fines + permits this year. For every RT this gets we’ll donate $1 (up to $500,000) to help kids next year + beyond.

“Around the country, kids across the country are getting busted for lemonade stands,” the company said in a video posted to its official Twitter account Thursday.

Using the hashtag #SaveLemonadeStands the company stated, “when life gives you arcane laws, make lemonade.” The clip briefly featured what appeared to be headlines about lemonade stand-related prosecutions of the last few years.

The brand is launching a new fund called Legal-Ade,“a crack team ready to straighten out lemonade stands permits and fines.”

The stipulations are simple: your kid needs to be 14 years old or younger to take part in the program.

If a lemonade stand gets shut down or ticketed by city officials for not having proper permits or licenses, Country Time said it will reimburse the cost of the fine or permit up to $300, and up to a total limit of $60,000 for 200 kids’ legal defenses.

In addition to the reimbursement, Country Time said it will donate $1 for every retweet that the Legal-Ade video gets on Twitter — up to $500,000 — to help kids with the same issue in the future.

“Life doesn’t always give you lemons, but when it does, you should be able to make and share lemonade with the neighborhood without legal implications,” according to the Legal-Ade website.

Just two weeks ago on (May 30th), police officers in Denver, Colorado, shut down two young boys’ lemonade stand, raising money for charity, because the boys didn’t have a $125-a-day permit.

Their mother, Jennifer Knowles, said she was horrified when an officer confronted them and demanded that they shut down the stand immediately, The Denver Postreported.

“The police officers came over and they said that because my boys and I did not have permits for a lemonade stand they shut us down and we had to stop immediately,” Knowles said. “My boys were crushed. They were devastated. And I can’t believe that happened. I remember as a child I always had lemonade stands and never had to worry about being shut down by the police officers. I mean that’s unheard of.”

This isn’t an isolated incident either. Police have also shut down kids’ lemonade stands in Georgia and Texasover the years.

Big government is encroaching on wholesome summertime fun of kids and its great to see two corporations standing up for the kids’ rights to have a lemonade stand. Yes, lemonade stands are often unlicensed, and we should keep them that way. Who cares? No single kid is operating under the assumption that lemonade stands are established businesses. They are just doing it for fun.

August 20th is now unofficially National Lemonade Freedom Day, because when life gives you oppressive government regulation — make lemonade or something to that effect.